XMen Evolution: Untouchable and Unstoppable
by Zabe Rogue
Summary: NOW UPDATED! Fast Forward 15 years post-XMen:Evo Series. Scott Summers now heads the Xavier Institute along with Rogue, Wolverine, X-23, Gambit and Emma Frost. They have new students and when new threats arise, they must train them to be the X-Men they can be... CHAP 4 NOW UP!
1. We Didn't Start The Fire

**X-Men Evolution: Untouchable and Unstoppable**

**Chapter 1: We Didn't Start the Fire**

Bayville, New York. For the past 15 years, this small upstate town has been turned upside down. It all started with the exposure of mutants, people born with extraordinary abilities. They weren't just in Bayville; they were all over the world. Then, five years later, a chemical plant in California spilled lethal chemicals on near a community. Nearly the chemicals affected everyone there; the radiation alone affected the entire world. As a result, people who _weren't _mutants, begin to have powers. The persecution was intense. It slowed down since then but it hasn't stopped. Scott Summers knows that which is why he continued to run Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning after he graduated from college. For 15 years, he's trained young mutants and "bang-babies." This is their story. The next generation of X-Men.

* * *

><p>"LET'S GO, WILDCATS! LET'S GO, WILDCATS!"<p>

The cheerleaders and the audience were cheering on the Bayville High Wildcats football team. It was 4th quarter and they were leading the opponent by 3 points.

"Ready! Set!" The quarterback called out. "Blue 21! Blue 21! Hut!" Once the quarterback got the ball, he pretended to throw it but blitzed to the left. After dodging four players, he was tackled by the other team's lineman.

_"AND THAT WAS A 15-YARD RUN MADE BY ALL-STAR QUARTERBACK, JOHANNES WAGNER!_" The sports commentator announced over the speaker.

"Woo hoo!" A girl from the audience cheered. "Go, JT!"

JT Wagner looked at his enthusiastic fan as she stood up and waved. He smiled and waved back.

Tanisha Jones looked at her hyperactive friend sitting next to her and sighed. "Do you have to be so loud?" She asked.

"I'm the quarterback's girlfriend," Her friend answered. "It's my duty to be loud."

"Well, can you not be so...Kirsten Dunst?"

Tamarra Cabonarra just smirked at Tanisha. "You're just jealous." She said.

"Me?" Tanisha scoffed. "Jealous of what?"

"You're jealous of the fact that I'm in a committed relationship and you can't even attract a fly."

"I don't need someone to make me happy."

"But you still want someone." Tamarra pointed out.

Tanisha stared at Tamarra for a good five minutes before getting up from her seat.

"Whatever. I gotta take some more pictures for the yearbook," She said as she grabbed her camera. "Go root for your man."

"Oh, I plan to." Tamarra gloated.

* * *

><p>The game still continued at its intense pace as Tanisha made her way to the football field. She took some pictures of the cheerleaders and of the school mascot. All of a sudden, one of the Wildcats football players got tackled and he landed where the cheerleaders were. He missed Tanisha by nearly 2 inches.<p>

_"THAT WAS AN EXCELLENT TACKLE MADE BY DEFENSIVE LINEMAN, MAXIM "THE STEEL" MARX!"_ The announcer boomed. "_THE WILDCATS NOW HAVE THE BALL!"_

Tanisha started taking pictures of the lineman still on the ground. Maxim Dmitry Marx just smiled.

"Is this for your yearbook, Tanisha?" He asked.

"No, Marx." Tanisha replied. "This is for my personal collection."

* * *

><p>While everyone was enjoying the game, a certain outcast was hanging out behind the bleachers, pickpocketing from random people. Two cheerleaders saw the thief making spare change. They rushed to one of the Senior Cheerleaders.<p>

"Hey, Riley." One sneered. "Guess who decided to pillage the game tonight?"

Riley Compton turned her gaze to the bleachers and saw what her friends saw. She smirked evilly.

"I think it's time we teach Looting LeBeau a lesson in stealing." To the coach, Riley asked politely: "Oh, Coach Taylor. Is it okay if Felicia, Kate and I take a bathroom break?"

Coach Taylor looked at her watch before answering.

"All right. Be back in five minutes, Riley."

The girls smiled at each other before heading towards the bleachers.

"Going somewhere, Riley?"

The three girls turned around to find their team captain, Anna-Maria DeSoto, staring down at them.

"Hey, Annie." Riley chirped. "We were just going to the bathroom to freshen up."

"The girl's locker room is on the _other side _of the stadium." Anna-Maria pointed out. "Why are you going towards the bleachers?"

"That's none of your business," Felicia sneered. "And who made you Bathroom Police?"

Ignoring, Felicia's comment, Anna-Maria turned back to Riley.

"Don't do anything stupid that's going to have repercussions later."

Riley rolled her eyes. "You see into the future now?"

"No, I'm simply warning you. So don't expect me to bail you out because I'm the captain."

"We don't." With that, they left.

Tanisha came over to Anna-Maria's side after overhearing the conversation.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

"I don't know," Anna-Maria replied. "But we're gonna find out."

* * *

><p>Not far from Anna-Maria and Tanisha's location, a certain loner was watching the game with little interest. He wore a brown T-shirt coupled with a black buttoned down dress shirt, dark black jeans and Converse sneakers. He wore black gloves and his long, dark red hair was in a messy ponytail. The boy was playing with a lighter, absent-mindedly, looking at Anna-Maria. He was slightly startled by the band and dropped his lighter.<p>

"Aw, bloody hell!" He cursed. His friend sitting next to him simply laughed.

"I told ya looking at cheerleaders is bad for your health, Griff." He said.

Griff simply glared at his friend. He started to look under the bleachers for his precious lighter when something else caught his eye.

"Look down there. Someone's trying to make some loose change."

Griff's friend looked and saw a young girl about their age stealing wallets behind the bleachers.

"Whoa, should I call the cops?" He asked.

"Keep that option open, mate." Griff replied. He left to see what was going on.

* * *

><p>Rebecca Irene LeBeau was a thief. It was in her blood. She tried to be good; quit and go on the straight and narrow. She knew her father wanted the best for her. But telling a thief to quit stealing is like telling a singer to quit singing.<p>

Rebecca pulled another wallet from another member of the crowd, took out the money and put the wallet back in the person's pocket. She counted the money she stole and smiled.

"$375." She mused. "Guess I made a killing."

"Well, well, well. Looting LeBeau is at it again."

Rebecca started to smirk as she turned around to see Riley Compton, Felicia Porter, and Katelyn Chao ganging up on her.

"Ladies," Rebecca greeted. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"

"We just came to say hi," Riley said. "And ask you about the money."

"Money? Oh, u mean _this money!" _Becca merely shrugged. "Just a little pocket change."

"Did you steal it?" Katelyn asked.

"What's it to ya?"

Riley just smiled. "Ladies, let's teach Ms. LeBeau a lesson in honesty." She threw the first punch but Rebecca ducked out of the way and tripped Riley with a sideswiping kick. Katelyn punched Rebecca in the stomach while Felicia held her down. Once they'd subdued her, Riley came over to Becca with a huge smirk on her face.

"I am so going to enjoy this."

But before Riley could throw a punch, she was pulled back by an invisible force field. Confused, the girls looked around and saw Anna-Maria DeSoto and Tanisha Jones staring at them.

"Leave her alone, Riley." Anna-Maria demanded.

"This has nothing to do with you, DeSoto." Riley snapped.

"Yeah," Rebecca agreed. "I got this under control."

"You do, huh?" Tanisha asked.

Rebecca broke Katelyn's nose and punched Felicia before responding.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Now, Riley was furious. She ran towards Anna-Maria in a fit of rage.

_"YOU'RE DEAD, DESOTO!"_ She screamed.

Anna-Maria started to block every attempt Riley made to fight her. Whenever Riley tried to punch, hit, and scratch or kick her, Anna-Maria would counteract her attacks. Rebecca and Tanisha had their hands full with the other two cheerleaders. Tanisha was taking on Katelyn and Rebecca was fighting Felicia. The girls were focused on each other; none of them noticed Griff entering the scene. When he saw the six girls fighting, he was turned on and worried at the same time. He didn't know what to do.

Deciding she had enough, Rebecca took out a few marbles from her pocket. Tanisha saw the marbles and knew what she was going to do.

"Don't even think about it, Becca LeBeau!"

"Sorry, Cherie." Becca apologized. "But I ain't one for sleepovers."

Becca touched the marbles lightly with her fingers and they started to glow an electric green. Felicia and Katelyn stopped in their tracks, with a look of panic on their faces.

"Y'all might wanna run." Becca warned, smugly.

The cheerleaders begin to run for safety as Becca tossed five kinetically charged marbles at their direction. Tanisha ran towards them and manage to catch both of them in her hands, absorbing the energy in her body. She looked back to see Becca already fleeing the scene.

Anna-Maria was about two seconds to putting Riley in her place when she saw two of Becca's explosive marbles rolling toward her. She suddenly heard Tanisha in her head.

_**Annie! Becca made those marbles to explode. Get rid of them!**_

Getting the message, Anna-Maria used her telekinesis to pick up the exploding marbles. Griff, who was still hiding in the corner, was amazed by what he saw. The most popular girl in Bayville High was a mutant? Griff started to leave when he saw Riley try to sneak up behind Anna-Maria.

"LOOK OUT!" He shouted.

Griff's warning startled Anna-Maria but she turned around in time to see Riley trying to attack her. She concentrated her telepathy and pushed the vindictive cheerleader back with her mind. However, while doing that, she lost control of the marbles and they ricocheted, landing near propane tanks. Frantic, Anna-Maria tried to retrieve the marbles before they exploded but she tripped and hit her head on a pole, knocking her out.

"Anna-Maria!" Tanisha called out. She tried to rush to her safety but the tanks exploded, sending her flying. Fortunately, a cloud of turquoise smoke before impact caught her.

* * *

><p>The explosion rocked the stadium. No one knew what caused the explosion; all they knew was that they gotta get the heck outta there. The principal kept telling everyone to evacuate the stadium immediately. However, Tamarra Cabonarra wouldn't leave without her friends. Looking frantically around, she saw Maxim Dmitri Marx (he prefers Dmitri) and rushed to his side.<p>

"Dmitri!" She called. "Where are Annie and Tanisha?"

"JT has Tanisha," Dmitri replied. "We saw her flying in the air when the tanks exploded."

"What about Anna-Maria?"

"I don't know. Hopefully, she's all right. Call Ms. Emma or Laura."

"What are you going to do?"

"Find Annie!"

* * *

><p>Lyle Mitchell Griffiths wasn't afraid of anything. Except water but that was a justified fear. He saw his father killed right in front of him and he literally burned the man's face off. With his bare hands. So, it didn't surprise him when he rushed near the raging flames in order to rescue this girl. He knelt right beside her and checked her pulse. It was weak but steady. Lyle started to lift Anna-Maria up when he saw another propane gas tank. Frantic, Lyle started to shake Anna-Maria awake.<p>

"Hey. Hey, wake up." He urged. "We need to get out of here."

Then, the other tank exploded. But as if it were a defense mechanism, Lyle's hands turned into two big shields of fire, penetrating the flames.

As Anna-Maria was slowly regaining consciousness, she could barely register what was going on around her. All she remembered was getting into a fight with Riley Compton, getting rid of Becca LeBeau's exploding marbles and... an explosion. An explosion! Anna-Maria panicked. She was in the middle of the fire.

_Well, if I'm in the middle of the explosion, _She thought. _How come I'm not getting burned? Or why am I not dead?_

Anna-Maria looked above her and saw a boy, average height with dark red hair controlling the fire. It looked to Anna-Maria like he was shielding them from the fire. But it also looked like the boy was losing his focus.

"Are you okay?" Anna-Maria asked.

Lyle turned to look at Anna-Maria. "I'm all right," He replied. "Just trying to control these flames."

"I can help you."

"How?"

Anna-Maria stood up slowly and placed her hands on Lyle's head.

"What are you doing?" Lyle asked.

"I'm a telepath." Anna-Maria said. "I'm going to establish a connection so the strain won't be difficult."

"You're not going to probe my thoughts, are ya?"

"No, I don't do that. So, what do you say?"

Lyle felt his shields collapsing. Just because he was immune to fire doesn't make him immune to smoke inhalation and fatigue. He needed all the help he could get.

"All right, lass." He decided. "Let's do it."

Anna-Maria nodded and proceeded to close her eyes. She concentrated on the fire shields, Lyle's powers, and the fire all around her. With that, Anna-Maria created a sparkling, purple force field around herself and Lyle. The fire around them began to diminish making it easier for them to breathe.

* * *

><p>It took a while for Dmitri Marx to find his friend but he finally found her when he noticed the round sparkling force field blocking the flames. He tried to communicate with Anna-Maria telepathically.<p>

_**Anna-Maria, its me Dmitri. Can u hear me?**_

It took a few minutes, but Anna-Maria finally responded.

_**Dmitri! Never thought I'd be so glad to hear your voice in my head.**_

_**I know. Are you okay?**_

_**We're fine for now, but I don't know how long this shield is going to hold.**_

_**Who's we? Someone else is there?**_

_**Me and this other guy. He's also a mutant. Dmitri, please tell me you're close by.**_

_**On my way, Chica.**_

Dmitri rummaged around for some fireproof metal. He found a piece of a Titanium cell phone and touched it. Like paint, titanium colored Dmitri's body and he quickly became a Titanium wrecking machine. Without further hesitation, he rushed to the force field and dove in to the flames. When Dmitri got there, he saw Anna-Maria and another boy he recognized as Lyle Griffiths in deep concentration. He scooped the young teenagers up and jumped out of the flames. As soon as the force field disappeared, the fire exploded for a third time. But Dmitri was able to get Anna-Maria and Lyle out of harm's way before that happened.

"Annie," Dmitri asked, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Anna-Maria snapped out of her trance and looked at her savior. She smiled and gave Dmitri a hug.

"I am now."

* * *

><p>Nearly three hours later, everyone at the football field were treated for injuries, questioned and sent home. No one really knew the original cause of the explosion. They all thought it was a leak in one of the gas tanks. But Laura Kinney knew better.<p>

"Okay, start from the beginning," She told her five students. "What really happened?"

Anna-Maria DeSoto, Dmitri Marx, Tamarra Cabonarra, JT Wagner, and Tanisha Jones kept looking at each other. As if to volunteer one another.

"Anytime today will be nice?" Laura coaxed.

"Some cheerleaders were fighting Becca," Tanisha began. "And Annie and I were fighting them."

"That's how the fire started?"

"We didn't start the fire!" Anna-Maria defended. "Becca started it when she dropped her marbles."

Laura thought of a good joke for that remark but decided against it. Instead, she turned to Dmitri, Tamarra and JT.

"Where were you three?"

"Playing football." The boys replied simultaneously.

"I was going to the concession stand when I saw one of Becca's marbles rolled by here," Tamarra explained. "I threw it in the air and it exploded."

Laura nodded. She has been teaching at the Xavier School for almost five years. Been an X-Man for ten. One thing she learned was that there's never a dull moment.

"Alright," she began. "Thankfully, no one was hurt but Professor Summers is going to have a _serious talk _with all of you tomorrow before you leave for school. So, come on let's go home."

The kids moaned and groaned as they gathered up their stuff to get home. While that was taking place, a tall, blonde woman with a sophisticated look and a Playboy-esque body watched them from afar.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Is everything all right down there, Emma?<strong>_

_**The situation is under control, for now.**_

_**Good. Let X-23 deal with matters from here. You and Logan go to New Jersey to find the mutant Cerebro picked up.**_

_**What about the other one here?**_

_**I have a pretty good approach for him. I'll see you Monday, Em.**_

Emma Frost ended her telepathic conversation with her boyfriend, Scott Summers and proceeded to head to her Bentley. She got in and looked at the short, stocky man with sideburns who was smoking a cigar.

"Where to, Frost?" Logan asked.

"How does Boston sound?" Emma smiled.

* * *

><p>Lyle Griffiths was getting his backpack and headed to his home when he suddenly heard a ringing in his head. It wasn't irritating but rather pleasant.<p>

_**Thank you for saving my life.**_

_**I couldn't have done it without ya. So do you have a name or do I have to call you 'Hot Psychic Mexican Cheerleader'?**_

_**Ha ha. Very funny. Well, I'm not Mexican; I'm Brazilian. And my name is Anna-Maria DeSoto.**_

_**Lovely to talk with you, Anna-Maria. My name is Lyle Griffiths.**_

_**Nice to talk with you too, Lyle.**_


	2. The Heiress

**Chapter 2: The Heiress**

* * *

><p><strong>Manhattan Train Station<strong>

* * *

><p><em>This is the five-minute call for the 11:00 MTS-679 train to Bayville from Manhattan. All passengers boarding that train should be heading to Station 12 with their tickets.<em>

Lara Nairobi Worthington tore her eyes away from the letter she was reading as she heard the five-minute warning. She put the letter in her pocketbook and started heading for the train stop. This past year for the young heiress was, for lack of a better word, intense. She first received a letter from her godmother that her father Warren Worthington III was missing. The young billionaire who's also the X-Man known as Angel, went to Indonesia on a covert mission and was never heard from. Everyone assumed the worst about her father and presumed him dead and Lara's mother died in childbirth. Now Lara's an orphan and sole heir of Worthington Industries. So, six months ago, she called her godparents and asked if she could stay in Bayville for the duration of her high school education. This week, she got the letter. Now, she's starting her sophomore year. Gathering her thoughts together, Lara gave her ticket to the train conductor and got on the midnight train to Bayville.

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute for Higher Learning<strong>

* * *

><p>"Was anybody hurt?"<p>

"Fortunately, no. And the real cause wasn't discovered so everything is fine."

"So, why are ya lookin' so pissed?"

Scott Summers looked at his Anna Marie LeBeau as if she was missing something.

"You _do realize _that all of this was your daughter's doing?"

"Becca was protecting herself from them cheerleaders, Scott."

Marie argued. "You wanna blame somebody, blame them!"

"She set the football stadium on fire!"

"Whoa, whoa. Is everything all right?"

Scott and Anna turned around to see Jason Gabriel Summers staring at them.

"Everything's fine, Jace." Scott assured. "Nothing to worry about. How are the kids?"

"A little shaken up," Jason replied. "I think Tanisha's taking it the hardest but other than that, they're fine."

Marie started to head upstairs. "I'll go and see if she's okay."

"Rogue…" Scott began.

"I gonna see, if she is okay." And she proceeded to go upstairs.

After an awkward silence, Jason spoke up.

"You know, this is hard on Rogue too."

"That's no excuse."

"Her daughter recently left the team and now _this happens."_ Jason gave his uncle a knowing look. "I think you were too hard on her."

Scott looked at Jason and sighed. "I hate it when you're right."

* * *

><p>Tanisha Jones was preoccupied with a certain photo album; she didn't even hear the knock on her door. Rogue simply entered her room.<p>

"Ya doing alright, Sugah?" She asked.

Tanisha shrugged. "I guess. Just a little bummed out, that's all."

"Is it about Becca or about what happened?"

Tanisha didn't say anything at first. She just kept looking at the photo album. After a

lengthy silence, she started turned to Rogue.

"How could she do that to us?" She asked. "How could she do that to _me?"_

"Don't do that, Tanisha." Rogue scolded. "Don't blame yourself for Becca's choices. It was _her _decision to leave the team and join the Brotherhood and it was her decision to blow up the stadium. It wasn't your fault."

"But I could've stopped her."

Tanisha tossed the photo album aside and plopped on her bed. Rogue could tell by her actions that she didn't want to talk about this anymore. So she just patted Tanisha on the shoulder and left.

* * *

><p>"Two Packs of M&amp;Ms and Two Weeks of Dishes."<p>

"I see your bet, and raise you Six Bars of Snickers."

The two boys looked at their third competitor, Lena Danielle Parkridge. She looked stoic as she placed all of her winnings in the pool.

"All in." She said.

Alec Theodore Jameson swore under his breath. "I fold." He said.

Lena smiled. "Alright Dass," She said. "What's your bet?"

Seth Rajiv Dass looked at his cards then at his friend.

"All in."

"All right, mates." Alec said. "Let's see 'em."

Seth held out his cards first. "Three of a Kind, Kings High."

Alec looked at Seth in shock! "What?! I could've beaten you."

"Well, you didn't." Seth smiled. "You need to remember, Jameson. I'm a

genius."

He started to collect his winnings when Lena stopped him.

"Not so fast, Genius." She said. "I have a boat. Full House; Ace High."

Seth's mouth gaped. Alec slumped his head on the table.

Jason, who came over and watched the whole scene unravel, was laughing like a maniac.

"Ha! You guys got played!" He snickered.

"Well, I'll be enjoying a month of relaxation." Lena bragged.

"I want a rematch." Alec said.

"You can't get a rematch, Al. I already won."

"Besides, it's a quarter past midnight." Jason pointed out.

"You guys got school tomorrow."

The three young heroes nodded as they cleaned up their mess and got ready for bed. They were about to turn in when the doorbell rang. The four friends looked at each other in confusion.

"Who would be ringing us at midnight?" Alec asked.

"I don't know, Alec." Jason asked. "But you and Seth get Uncle Scott. Lena, answer the door."

Lena looked at Jason. "Why me?"

"Just answer the door!"

Lena sighed and proceeded to answer the door. She looked through the peephole and saw a tall, mocha-skinned girl in front of the doorway. She had luggage with her and a cat carrier. Confused, Lena proceeded to open the door.

"Hi." The girl greeted. "Is Scott Summers or Anna Marie LeBeau here?"

"Um…They're busy right now." Lena stammered.

"Lara?"

The girl immediately looked up when Jason walked in.

"Jason?" She responded. "Oh my God."

Jason walked past Lena and engulfed Lara Worthington in a warm hug.

"It's so good to see you." He said. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good." Lara replied.

"Uh, Jason?" Lena pointed out.

"Oh, right." Jason ushered Lara in the house. "Lara, this is Lena Parkridge. She's one of the new students here. Lena, this is Lara Worthington."

Lena's grey eyes grew wide. "_The _Lara Worthington?" She clarified. "As in the heiress of Worthington Labs?"

"Same one." Lara confirmed. "But just call me Lara."

"Lara!" Scott called out. He came in the room along with Seth and Alec.

"Hey, Uncle Scott. I got your letter."

"I'm glad you responded quickly. Was your trip okay?"

"It was okay. Pipsqueak was a little antsy, though."

Scott looked at the cat carrier and laughed. "Well, I don't blame her. Let's take your luggage to your

room."

Seth and Alec just kept staring at Lara like she was royalty.

"Mother of God." Alec whispered.

"It's Lara Worthington." Seth whispered back.

"Boys," Jason said." Do you mind helping Ms. Worthington with her bags?"

Seth and Alec quickly snapped out of their trance and proceeded to grab the luggage from outside.

* * *

><p><strong>St. Peter's Orphanage- Boston, MS.<strong>

* * *

><p>Francine Silas poured two cups of tea for her two rather unusual guests.<p>

She started to sit down and proceeded to tell her story.

"Thank you for coming here at such short notice."

"1:15 AM is more than short notice, Lady." Logan muttered.

"Logan, Manners!" Emma Frost scolded. "I apologize for my grumpy colleague. Please, continue."

"Well, Lilac is my adoptive daughter," Francine replied. "But I feel that The Xavier School will be best suited for her."

"We are aware of Lilac's mutant abilities." Emma explained. "But taking her out of her familiar environment may not be the best thing for her."

"I've taken Lilac in when she was three," Francine explained. "My husband and I were vacationing in Ravello, Italy when we saw her growing lilacs."

"Is there a point to this story?" Logan asked.

Emma gave him a glaring look. "Continue please."

"We couldn't have any children so Lilac became ours. When she was five, my husband, Richard, had a heart attack….."

* * *

><p><strong>St. Peter's Orphanage, 2002…<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Lilac was outside planting her flowers when she heard a loud crash and a scream.<em>

_ "RICHARD!" _

_ Lilac ran inside the house to see what was wrong. She saw her adoptive father, Richard Silas, crouched on the floor in the fetus position. His hand clutched to his heart. Her mother, Francine was on the phone, frantically calling 911. _

_ "Mama…." Lilac said._

_ "Go to your room, Lilac." Francine ordered. "Your father's fine."_

_ Lilac kept looking Richard who was obviously in pain. She didn't want to be in her room; she wanted to be near him. Kneeling beside him, Lilac touched his shoulder._

_ "Daddy?"_

_Francine got off the phone and went back to the living room. She couldn't believe what she saw! Her husband, who was dying right in front of him was standing up, carrying their little girl._

* * *

><p><strong>Present Day…..<strong>

* * *

><p>"The doctor confirmed that Richard did have a heart attack," Francine finished. "But by some miracle they couldn't explain, he was completely healed."<p>

"That's when you knew," Emma said.

"My daughter healed my husband. There can be no further explanation."

"So why call us now?"

"Three months ago, a man tried to rape Lilac when she was coming home from school." Francine replied. "She unintentionally used her powers and killed him."

"The girl must have the power to open up old wounds too." Logan pointed out.

"Is that dangerous?"

Logan gave Francine a serious look. "For an inexperienced healer? It's very dangerous."

"I believe we need no further discussion." Emma concluded. "The Xavier School will be glad to have Lilac as our student."

Francine smiled. "Thank you very much, Ms. Frost and Mr. Howlett."

"It is no problem." Emma assured.

"Mama?"

The adults turned around to see a very petite young girl who looked about 12 years old. Her skin was snow white and her hair was waist length; white blond with black highlights. She wore boy shorts and a tube top for pajamas. Her hair tied in a ponytail.

"Lilac!" Francine exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed, sweetie?"

"I heard people." The girl whispered.

"Does she always talk like that?" Logan asked.

"She's very quiet; doesn't really talk very much." Francine turned to her adoptive daughter. "Lilac, this is Ms. Emma Frost and Mr. Logan Howlett." She introduced. "They're from the Xavier School; the one I told you about."

Lilac just stared at the two guests.

_**It's very rude to stare, Miss Silas.**_

Lilac jumped up when she heard the sound of Emma's voice inside her head.

"What, you thought you were the only mutant in the world?" Logan said.

"Lilac, Ms. Emma and Mr. Logan have special abilities like you," Francine explained. "They can help you with yours."

Lilac whispered something in her mother's ear.

"Lilac wants to know what type of powers you have?"

"Mr. Logan here has a similar healing ability like you have but a little different from yours," Emma explained. "I have, as you witnessed, the power to read and enter people's minds."

"Can you help me?" Lilac asked.

"If you would let us." Emma answered. "And don't worry, your parents can visit you at the school and you can have your own garden."

And with that, Lilac smiled.


	3. Old Rivals, New Blood

**Chapter 3: Old Rivals, New Blood**

* * *

><p><strong>The Brotherhood Boarding House<strong>

* * *

><p>Becca LeBeau arrived at the Brotherhood House about 3:00 in the morning, extremely exhausted. She didn't want to deal with any more drama than what she had to go through tonight at the football stadium.<p>

"Looks like _you _had a busy night."

Becca groaned at the voice. She turned around to see a petite teenager with honey brown skin leaning against the staircase, smiling an evil smirk. She had on a fuchsia nightgown with a black rose in the center. Her long, wavy hair was tied in a ponytail.

"Waiting up on me, Naya?" She asked. "I didn't know ya cared."

"I don't." Naya Ramirez stated. "Just wanted to remind you about your loyalties."

"Ya ain't gotta remind me of nothin', honey. I'm not with the X-Men no more."

"Are you sure about that?"

Becca walked up towards Naya, her patience wearing thin. "I ain't got time for questions, Sugah." She told her. "So, get outta my face before I knock you out."

Naya stepped closer into the thief's space. "Bring it, chica."

The girls were about to go at it when they found themselves frozen in place. Their eyes shifted to see a tall, dark-skinned girl with striped boy-shorts and a Victoria's Secret Tank top. Her short, honey brown hair was pinned up.

"You _are not _about to fight at 3:15 in the morning." Jeanette Sanders snapped. "Whatever problems you have, settle it tomorrow and _go to bed!"_

Jeanette snapped her fingers again, releasing Naya and Becca from their frozen positions.

"You didn't have to freeze us, V." Naya remarked.

"You'd prefer if I'd turn you into a toad?" Jeanette challenged.

Becca chuckled. "I would."

Naya glared at Becca. "Whatever, good night." She headed back to her room.

Becca sighed in fatigue as she trudged away to her room in the back, only to be stopped by Jeanette.

"_Are _your loyalties still with the X-Men?" She asked.

"Oh, come on." Becca scoffed. "Not you too."

"I'm just asking. Your parents are senior members."

"I left, Jeannie. Everyone was expecting me to follow in my parents' footsteps and that ain't me. Besides, I only went to the game tonight to get some grocery money. Didn't plan for the fireworks."

"Or run into your ex-girlfriend?"

Becca chuckled. "Nah, that was just the icing on da cake."

"So how much did you steal?"

"About $425 and some change. I had more but I lost it during that stampede."

Jeanette smiled as she took the money. "Well, it's enough to buy a week's worth of groceries until Mystique rolls in with the big check. You know she won't pay us until we get beat down some X-Men."

"That's difficult since they ain't been X-Men in five years." Becca pointed out. "They stop focusing on fighting and concentrating on education."

"Well, we'll just have to get make do with what we have. Until then, Ms. LeBeau, _no explosions _planned or not. And no running into exes."

"I'm gonna try. Can't promise nothing on the exes part."

Jeannette laughed. "Okay, I know you're tired so go get some sleep. I'll see you in the afternoon."

Becca smiled as she headed to her room in the back. Jeanette sighed in exhaustion as she walked to the kitchen to make some coffee because she knows that she's not going to go back to sleep tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute for Higher Learning<strong>

* * *

><p>Lara Nairobi Worthington woke up to the sound of her alarm waking up to the start of a brand new day…and the beginning of the rest of her life. She turned off the alarm on her iPhone and checked the time. It was 20 past 7. School started at 8:45. Lara stretched out her bones when she rose from her bed. She fed Pipsqueak her treat and proceeded to brush her long, tangled locks. From her reflection, she saw Tanisha Harriet Jones enter the room. The taller girl started to pick her clothes out to wear for school. Lara turned to glance at her new roommate. She can tell by Tanisha's demeanor and the way she was walking that something was both troubling and exhausting her. Lara didn't want to pry but she also wanted to get on good graces with Tanisha.<p>

"So…" She began. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Tanisha looked at the younger girl like she was mentally insane. _Is she actually talking to me? _She thought to herself.

"No," She said, crankily. "Your stupid cat was meowing half the night."

"Pipsqueak's not used to traveling and new environments," Lara apologized. "Sorry about that."

"Why did you bring her with you anyway?"

Lara shrugged, "I don't know," She said. "I guess it's because she was the last gift my dad gave me before…" Lara turned away and continuing brushing her hair.

Immediately, Tanisha felt bad. Here she was, pissed off about last night and taking it out on the new girl when she didn't realize she had it just as bad as she did.

"Look, I'm sorry," She apologized. "I didn't mean to sound like a bitch. It's just that last night was pretty rough."

"You mean that explosion at your football game?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, but that's not what's bumming me out–she looked at Lara–I rather not talk about it. So you're Lara Worthington?"

"Yeah, but I'm not too big on status quo. I don't even visit my Facebook page often."

"I'm Tanisha Jones, and I don't have a problem with you being my roommate. Just don't leave any dirty clothes, no loud parties and I don't want your cat's hair all over my stuff."

Lara laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not really the spoiled brat, party-girl type. And Pipsqueak is a short-hair cat who's housetrained, so you needn't worry."

Tanisha smiled and held out her hand. "Welcome to Mutant/Bang-Baby High, Ms. Worthington."

Lara smiled as she shook back.

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>"You think Riley's going to confront you about last night?"<p>

Anna-Maria DeSoto stopped styling her long, auburn hair to look at her roommate, Tamarra Cabonarra.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Well, she already knows you're a bang-baby," Tamarra explained. "I'm surprised she hasn't ratted you out yet."

"Sweetie, the whole school knows about us. The reason why they haven't said anything is because there are laws against that."

"What I'm trying to say is do you think Riley is going to come at you about…last night?"

"I don't think so. Ms. Frost _did _wipe out her memories."

"But is that going to be enough?"

Before Anna-Maria could answer, there was a knock on their door.

"Hey, are you girls decent?" Dmitri Marx's voice echoed from the hallway.

"It depends Marx," Anna-Maria smirked, winking at Tamarra.

Dmitri entered the girls' room with JT Wagner trailing behind.

"On what exactly?" He teased.

"Don't be such a pervert," Tamarra admonished as she got up from her bed to kiss JT on the lips.

"Ugh," Dmitri grimaced. "Don't you two ever get tired of that?"

JT and Tamarra looked at each other, then at Dmitri. "No," They replied.

Anna-Maria laughed, "All right, _amigos, _we need to hurry up if we don't wanna be late for school and I need to stop at Shell for gas."

"You just want to see your biker boyfriend again," Dmitri teased.

Anna-Maria gave Dmitri a threatening look while Tamarra and JT looked intrigued.

"_What _biker boyfriend?" Tamarra asked.

Dmitri was about to answer when Tanisha came in the room.

"Didn't mean to interrupt the party," She said. "But Professor Summers wants to see us in the living room."

"We'll be right down, Tanisha." Anna-Maria decided. She grabbed her green backpack and beige jacket when Dmitri stopped her, grabbing her arm.

"We're not finished talking about Griff," He said. Anna-Maria simply rolled her eyes and headed downstairs. Tamarra, JT and Tanisha looked at Dmitri in shock.

"Annie likes Lyle Griffiths?!" Tanisha exclaimed.

Dmitri just shrugged.

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>Seth Dass was twiddling with his latest handheld invention when he saw his best friend banging on the bathroom door like a madman.<p>

"Lele! Will you come out already?!" Alec Jameson shouted at the door.

_I told you I'll be out in two minutes! _Lena Parkridge called back.

"Uh, Alec?" Seth pointed out. "You do know there're 11 other bathrooms in the mansion."

"I know that, Seth," Alec said. "I just don't want to be late for the _fourth time this month!"_

_Whose fault is that? _Lena said.

"Give it up, Lena. You're hair is not going to look pretty."

Lena laughed to herself as she grabbed a pair of clippers from the bathroom sink.

"I'm almost done," She told them. "Give me two minutes."

_We don't have two minutes! _Alec argued. _It's almost 8:25._

"Are British guys always this impatient?"

Alec's hazel eyes started fuming and Seth knew that Lena was getting on his last nerve.

"That's it, Parkridge!" He shouted. "If you don't come out of the loo, I will levitate that door…"

His threat came unfinished as Lena Parkridge strutted out of the bathroom, wearing a dark purple off the shoulder halter-top coupled over a sky blue jacket and black cargo pants. She also had on candy apple red wedges. Her short, brown hair was in short layers with red highlights. Lena smiled as she saw her Alec's mouth gape open and Seth's eyes nearly bulge out of his glasses.

"So boys," Lena said, closing Alec's gaped mouth. "Are we leaving or what?"

Alec looked at Lena as she was heading downstairs, a faint smile etched on his face.

"You saucy little firecracker," He murmured to himself.

Suddenly, he felt a slight punch on his arm and glared as Seth passed by him.

"Let's go, Romeo." He snickered. Alec simply rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>XME: UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you don't want to get settled in first?" Scott Summers asked his goddaughter.<p>

"I'm fine, Uncle Scott," Lara replied. "I'd rather get the first day of school over with than delay the inevitable."

"Just like your daddy," Rogue laughed. "Always the go-getter."

Just then, Anna-Maria, Dmitri, Tanisha, JT and Tamarra rushed downstairs to the living room.

"You wanted to see us, Prof. S?" Dmitri asked.

"Yeah, just a minute. I'm waiting on the younger students."

Scott looked around the room to see Alec, Lena and Seth going through the kitchen and heading out the door.

"Hey, Scott," Alec greeted. "We're headed out the door."

"Just a minute, Alec," Scott said. "Can you three come into the living room for a moment? There're some people I want you to meet."

The three high school Freshmen looked at each other for a minute before coming into the living room where Scott was along with Rogue, and the older students.

"I believe you met Lara last night," Scott began. "But I think we should make formal introductions since she'll be staying with us for a while."

"So it's true?" Seth asked. "Lara Worthington _is _staying at the Institute?"

"Yes, Seth," Rogue said. "Since she's the sole heir of Worthington Industries _and _a minor, all of her assets go to her legal guardians, who happen to be myself and Professor Summers."

"So here I am," Lara concluded. "I'm not conceited, don't worry."

"That's fine, Lari." Dmitri said. "I'm Dmitri Marx, this my best friend JT Wagner, his girlfriend Tamarra Cabonarra, Anna-Maria DeSoto and you already know Tanisha Jones."

"And I'm Lena Parkridge," Lena introduced. "We met last night." She pointed to the two boys behind her. "These peepers who were staring at you are Seth Dass and Alec Jameson."

"We _weren't staring," _Alec said through gritted teeth.

"Sure you weren't," JT snickered.

Lara simply laughed. "Well, it's nice to meet all of you," She said.

"Wasn't there's someone else you wanted us to meet, Mr. Summers?" Tanisha asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know where Ms. Frost is…"

Before Scott could finish his sentence, Emma Frost entered the room in one of her sexy white pantsuits with diamond stilettoes. Following not too far behind was Logan Howlett and a pale-skinned petite girl with white blond hair and black highlights. She hid behind Logan, avoiding eye contact with everyone but occasionally glancing at Seth's direction.

"Emma, you're just in time," Scott said.

"You know me, Scott," Emma said. "I don't like being late for anything. So this is Warren's little girl?"

"Yeah. This is Lara Worthington," Scott introduced. "Lara, this is Emma Frost and Logan Howlett. They're teachers at the Institute, although you may have been too young to recognize them."

"No, I remember them," Lara said. "Wolverine and the White Queen, right? Dad used to tell me some interesting stories about you."

"I'll bet," Logan muttered.

"Don't worry, Logan. I'm sure they're good," Scott assured. He then proceeded to introduce the students to the other newest addition to their family. "Kids, I'll like you to meet our _second _newest student from Boston. This is Lilac Silas."

No one said anything, unsure of what to do next. They were afraid that if they were to make a wrong move, Lilac would retreat somewhere or run away. Emma decided to communicate with the girl.

_**Lilac, it's all right, **_She assured telepathically. _**You're among friends. They won't hurt you.**_

It took almost two minutes, but Lilac slowly crept out from behind Logan and slowly made her way through the room, finding a place to sit on a couch.

"Lilac is extremely shy and very quiet," Emma informed.

"Yeah, we're starting to get that," Anna-Maria said.

Seth Dass felt somewhat connected to this girl. He couldn't explain how or why at this very moment but something in his gut was telling him that there was more to Lilac beyond the surface. Slowly, he came up and tapped Lilac on the shoulder. The girl let out a startling gasp, her blue eyes widening with fear.

"Seth," Alec warned. "What're doing, mate?"

"Shh," Logan shushed Alec.

Seth continued with his plan. "Hi, Lilac." He greeted. "My name is Seth Dass–He held out his hand–it's nice to meet you."

Lilac looked from Seth's direction to Emma's. She saw the reassuring smile on the telepathic woman's face. Cautiously, she held out her hand to Seth, who gently shook it.

"It's nice to meet you too," She whispered.

Scott smiled, "Well, I think Lilac is going to fit in well here." He said.

"I have no doubt about that," Emma agreed. "I was just telling the child that Xavier School was a place where we'll help her control our mutant abilities." She turned to Tanisha. "Wouldn't you agree, Ms. Jones?"

The kids all looked at Tanisha. The girl, on the her hand, chuckled nervously, "You heard about that, didn't you?"

"Well, duh. It _was _on every news channel." Logan replied.

"Fortunately, no one was injured and the exact cause wasn't revealed," Scott added.

"The exact cause wasn't us," Anna-Maria imputed.

"Nevertheless, you all have to be more careful with your powers."

"Mr. S, I'm like a walking power plant," Tanisha said. "We all have specific powers, what more do you want from us?"

"Control, Tanisha." Scott replied, firmly. "You're not the first one who's gone through this and you'll certainly won't be the last. Trust me."

"That's why Professor Xavier built this Institute for us," Rogue stated. "Not just for a safe haven but so we can have a better hold on our powers."

"Excuse me."

Everyone turned around to where Seth was sitting on the couch next to Lilac. She was feeling very comfortable near him.

"Lilac wants to know what Tanisha's powers are," He said.

"Why can't she ask us herself?" Dmitri asked.

"Shut up, Marx," Rogue admonished. To Lilac, she said: "Tanisha absorbs raw energy to make pure electricity."

"That's awesome," Lilac breathed.

"What about you, Lilac?" Tamarra asked. "Do you have a special gift that brought you here?"

Lilac started to answer when a loud yelp startled everyone in the room. A few seconds later, Jason Gabriel Summers came in the living room clutching to his right hand with some paper towels. They were soaked in blood.

"What happened to your hand, Jason?" Lena asked.

"I was cutting some vegetables when I sliced my hand by accident," Jason explained. "It's bleeding really bad," Rogue observed. "You should let Hank take a look at it."

"No, let Lilac look at it," Emma suggested.

The kids looked at their teacher like she was crazy. How in the _world _are they going to let a shy, timid 15-year-old girl look at someone's bleeding hand?

"Uh, Emma are you sure that's wise?" Anna-Maria asked.

"You wanted to know what Lilac's gifts are, this is a perfect opportunity to show you."

"In front of everybody?" Scott asked.

"Consider this training, Summers," Logan said.

Lilac looked at Jason's bleeding hand and cringed at the sight but she stood up and went over to him. Jason bore a look of confusion, "What is she going to do?" He asked.

"You'll see." Logan just said.

Lilac took Jason's hand and gingerly touched it. Soon, the deep cut started to get smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. Everyone in the living room watched in awe as they saw Lilac heal Jason's cut. Seth saw Lilac stagger a little as she went back to the couch, so he rushed forward to help the thin girl stay on her feet.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Lilac replied. "Just a little dizzy, that's all." She turned to the others. "That's what I do."

"Wow," Alec and Lena said simultaneously.

"We're going to help get Lilac settled in," Scott said. "The rest of you head on to school. We'll continue this discussion when you get back."

"Can he be here?" Lilac asked, pointing to Seth.

"Huh?"

"She wanted to know if Seth can stay," Logan translated.

Scott thought about it for a moment before answering. Although he didn't want one of his students to miss school, Seth was the only one who was able to successfully reach out to Lilac. He didn't want to break the only area of communication.

"I don't have a problem with it," He replied. "But it's up to Seth."

"It's all right with me," Seth said.

Lilac smiled for the first time and Seth could say that it was a very lovely smile. Alec stared at his uncle in shock.

"Wait a minute!" He exclaimed. "Seth makes small talk with this girl and he gets to miss school?!"

"_You _can't afford to miss school with all of those tardy slips," Scott admonished. "That goes for all of you, now get a move on so you won't be late for school."

The students, with the exception of Seth, headed out the door and on their way to school.

"That went well," Tamarra stated.

"Well, it could be worse," Dmitri said. "Tanisha could be on probation for a month."

Tanisha just scowled as she went in Anna-Maria's SUV. The Brazilian telepath checked the time: 8:30. There was more than enough time to stop at the nearest gas station since the tardy bell didn't ring until 8:55. As she drove to the Shell a block from Bayville High, there was a ringing inside her head.

_**Anna-Maria, I need you to do a favor for me. **_ It was Scott Summers' voice inside of her head.

_**Is it that important you had to tell me telepathically? **_Anna-Maria asked.

_**Yes, **_Scott said, simply. _**It's about Lyle Griffiths, the boy who saved you at the game last night.**_

Anna-Maria subtly looked around to see if any of her friends were noticing her nuances before answering her teacher. _**What about him?**_

_** Cerebro detected him last Thursday, **_Scott explained. _**He's somewhat of a loner and he keeps to himself so we didn't want to scare him off. You may seem like a good opportunity.**_

_** Why because he likes me or I like him?**_

_** Both.**_

Anna-Maria fell silent for a few moments. _**I..I don't know if I can get through to him.**_

_** Just be you, Annie. That's the best strategy.**_

The conversation cut off, leaving Anna-Maria somewhat troubled and confused. Tanisha saw the look in her eyes and became concerned.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Anna-Maria dismissed it. "I'm good."

Tanisha gave Annie one last look before putting her headphones back on.

* * *

><p><strong>At a Convenient Store Somewhere in West Virginia<strong>

* * *

><p>The storeowner was reading the latest issue of <em>Time <em>magazine as he looked up at his latest visitor that walked through the door. The man was tall, muscular and looked like he was about in his late 20s to early 30s, auburn red hair, and an alluring presence to him. The man walked over to the hot food aisle to get himself a Hot Pocket before walking over to the magazine/newspaper stand. The owner saw the man peer through the articles in _The New York Times_ when came across one on the front page.

"Well, well. Trouble brewin' at home," He observed.

"Are you gonna buy that newspaper, sir?" The owner asked.

"Well, I'm holdin' it, ain't I, _món ami?" _The man replied, in a thick Cajun accent. "I'm gonna get this Hot Pocket and a cold Gatorade if ya don't mind."

The storeowner got a bottle of blue Gatorade out of the refrigerator and placed it on the counter. He started to make small talk with his mysterious customer as he rung his items up.

"Warm weather we're having this time of year," He mentioned.

The Cajun nodded, "They say in New Orleans that warm weather in the winter brings about unique changes. I wonder what changes we're gonna see this year."

"Who knows?" The owner finished ringing up the Cajun's items. "That'll be $5.46."

The Cajun gave the owner a $10.00 bill and waited for the owner to give him his change.

"I don't know why you grabbed that Hot Pocket," The owner said. "Our microwave is broken and there isn't another convenient store for 6 miles."

"That's aright. I got my own microwave."

The Cajun wrapped the Hot Pocket in his hands and they emitted a glowing red energy. The storeowner stared in awed shock. Soon, the red energy dispersed and the man was eating a deliouous hot sandwich.

"You have a nice day, sir." The Cajun saluted as he tipped his hat. He exited the store and headed for his old beat-up Chevy. But what he didn't know was that another man was watching him, his blackish red eyes noticing his every move.

"I told you I'll come back for you, Remy," the menacing man swore under his breath. "And a father always keeps his promises." He laughed sinisterly, his pearly whites accenting his black lips.

* * *

><p><strong>NYC Airport<strong>

* * *

><p>Laura Kinney was at Subway in the New York City Airport. She was waiting on her Meatball Marinara sandwich and checking the time at the same time. One of the former X-Men was coming home from a sabbatical in New Zealand and he was going to resume his teaching job at the Institute. After getting her order, Laura sat down at one of those mini tables in the airport and waited for her friend to arrive. As she cut her sandwich in half with one of her claws, a little girl stared at her in awe.<p>

"Cool!" She breathed.

Laura looked at the girl, then at her claw. "This doesn't scare you?"

"Of course not," The girl said. "You're X-23 from the X-Men. I think you're awesome."

"Well, thanks."

"Denise!" A woman's voice echoed from the background. Suddenly, a dark-skinned woman, middle-aged rushed in a quick pace to grab her nine-year-old daughter.

"What did I tell you about talking to strangers?" She scolded.

"But she's not a stranger," Denise said. "She's an X-Man."

The woman looked at Laura warily before apologizing. "I'm sorry if my daughter bothered you."

"No need," Laura waved it off. "I found it very refreshing." To Denise, she said: "You listen to your mom, alright kid?"

Denise smiled. "No problem."

Laura smiled slightly as she watched the mother and daughter walk out of the Subway. Why couldn't people be more like that girl, she will never know.

"Makes you happy about your career change, doesn't it?"

Laura turned around to see a young man with messy blonde hair and icy blue eyes smiling at her.

"More or less," She mused, coming over to give her friend a hug. "Welcome back to Bayville, Bobby."

Bobby Drake aka Iceman returned his best friend's hug. "It's good to be back. New Zealand was great but I miss you guys."

"Well, vacation's over, Icicle. Time to work."

* * *

><p><strong>Bayville High School<strong>

* * *

><p>"Hey, Hun! Ya must be the new gal."<p>

Lara Worthington looked startled at the bubbly Southern girl like she was on some type of sugar high and can't come down. She smiled nervously as she approached the girl.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Lara Worthington."

The redhead girl smiled at Lara, her dark blue eyes sparkling. "I'm Mackenzie Rae ,you're Sophomore Advisor. But just think of me as a tour guide."

"Thanks, I think."

"Well, I never thought I'd be entertaining a celebrity," Mackenzie mused. "This is a bigger than Trace Adkins hosting a hog race!"

"Who hosting what now?"

"Alabama humor, don't worry about it. I'll take ya to your homeroom."

Dmitri Marx entered the main office to do the morning announcements just in time to see Lara head out with a slightly terrified look on her face. Seeing the reason why, he simply laughed.

"Getting the grand tour by Miss KFC 2012?" He teased.

Mackenzie glared at Dmitri. "I'm from Alabama, Marx. Not that you got any idea where it is."

Dmitri made a face, "I know it's in America."

Lara simply laughed, "Well, I can't think of anyone better to show me around Bayville High."

"I can," Dmitri scoffed.

"Don't worry, Lara," Mackenzie assured. "I'll take good care of ya."

She took Lara by the hand and led her out of the main office, sticking her tongue out at Dmitri in the process.

Tanisha Jones was getting her books out of her locker for the first three periods when she felt a familiar presence sneak up behind her. She turned around abruptly, only to look in the face of her ex-girlfriend.

"Becca, what do you want?" She asked.

Becca LeBeau smiled, "I can't get a proper greeting?"

"You can but it won't be from me."

Tanisha started to leave when she felt Becca grab her arm.

"Tanisha, can we at least talk about this?" She asked.

"Talk about what?" Tanisha whispered angrily. "The fact that you're the main reason the school needs a new football stadium or the fact you're a selfish bitch?"

"Look, them cheerleaders had it comin' and you know it. I ain't mean to redecorate the stadium. An' I wasn't tryin' to hurt nobody by leaving. I needed a change."

"You did hurt people, Becca. You hurt your parents, your teammates and me. Do you realize how much damage you've done?"

"Can't we at least…"

Tanisha slammed her locker. "There is no 'we' anymore, Becca!" She sneered angrily. "We're not going to talk about it and I don't want any justifying. You gave all of that up when you left."

Becca watched her ex-girlfriend storm off and couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness overcome her.

"You sure you're over her?"

Becca turned around to see Luna Maximoff and Micah Alvers staring at her. She didn't want to answer them; they wouldn't understand.

"Ain't y'all got nothing better to do?" Becca sneered as she walked past them.

* * *

><p><strong>XME: UAU*XME: UAU*XME: UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>Tamarra Cabonarra sprinted quickly to her homeroom class and sat down in her usual seat.<p>

"Just in time," She smiled, looking at her watch.

"Hello, Tamarra." Two voices greeted.

Tamarra looked up to see Katelyn Chao and Felicia Porter standing at each side of her desk and she looked freaked out. "Is there anything I can help you girls with?"

"We just want you to sign this card for Riley," Kate said, handing Tamarra a card.

"She's in the hospital with a concussion and we're wishing her to get better." Felicia said. Tamarra looked at this card in confusion then signed it.

"How is she doing, by the way?"

"She's doing fine," Kate replied. "Doctor said that she'll be back by Wednesday but she won't be cheering for another two weeks."

"Well, send my regards."

"Okay, thanks." The girls said.

Anna-Maria DeSoto and JT Wagner watched in confusion as Felicia and Kate left their friend's desk, smiling. They were even more confused when the two usually despicable girls were giving _them _friendly smiles as they left!

"What was that all about?" JT asked, coming over to his girlfriend.

"Apparently, they wanted me to sign Riley's Get Well Soon card," Tamarra answered.

Anna-Maria laughed, "They really don't remember anything from last weekend. That's one last thing we don't have to worry about."

Just then, Tanisha stormed in the classroom, slammed her books down on her desk and slumped in her chair. She caught her friends staring at her but she didn't want to talk about what happened this morning.

"What are you staring at?!" She snapped.

"Nothing." They said, turning away.

The first tardy bell rang as more kids begin to file in the classroom. Lyle Griffiths was among the students. Anna-Maria's green eyes went wide as the young loner pass by her. Lyle looked at her briefly but didn't say a word. JT and Tamarra looked at each other, smiling.

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Tamarra coaxed.

Anna-Maria snapped back to reality. "No way!" She said. "Besides, I have nothing to say to him."

"Yeah, right." JT laughed.

"The Steel is in the building!" Dmitri introduced himself. "Everyone hold your applause!"

"Sit down, Mr. Marx." Their teacher, Ms. Kristina JoAnne Kyle commanded. Dmitri smiled and took a seat in front of Tanisha. Turning to her homeroom class, Ms. Kyle informed: "In light of what happened last weekend, football practices and games will be held at South Stanton High until further notice and _no one _will complain or groan about it."

All of the students complained and groaned about it.

"Hey! Hey!" Ms. Kyle said. "What did I just say?"

"But Ms. Kyle, South Stanton is the enemy!" Dmitri reminded.

"Yeah, how's it going to look for us when we're using their football stadium?" JT added.

"Like another team using their football stadium?" Ms. Kyle replied.

The class laughed.

"Now, that's it for the important announcements. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves or work on a homework assignment you failed to finish on the weekend."

Students begin to converse, do homework or just have fun. Dmitri saw Tanisha looking more forlorn than she was last weekend.

"You're alright, Tanisha?" He asked.

"Turn around, Marx." Tanisha gritted.

"Gotcha."

JT turned to Tamarra. "You think Tanisha ran into _she-who-shall-not-be-mentioned_ this morning?"

"It's a strong possibility," Tamarra replied. "What do you think Annie?" She turned to Anna-Maria but the young telepath had something else on her mind.

"Huh? Were you talking to me?"

"Where's your mind at?" JT asked.

"Lyle Griffiths," Dmitri coughed. Anna-Maria frowned at him.

"Just talk to him, Annie," Tanisha said. "It's obvious he likes you."

"It's a little bit complicated than that," Anna-Maria said. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Lyle's a mutant."

"Tell me something I don't know," Dmitri said.

"Wait, _I_ didn't know that." Tamarra argued.

"Me neither," JT added.

"I had a slight idea," Tanisha said. "What did Cyclops want you to do?"

"Recruit him."

"What?!" Dmitri exclaimed. "Why should we recruit him to the X-Men?"

"Why not, Dmitri?" Tanisha asked.

"Have you _seen him? _He looks like he's sent people to the hospital."

"You shouldn't be quick to judge, Marx," JT said. "The world judges us already."

"You sound just like your dad, JT." Tamarra smiled.

JT blushed. "I know."

"Either case," Anna-Maria said. "Scott told me to talk to him and that's what I'm going to. I just need to figure out how."

"Just do what you've always done," Tanisha said. "Speak your mind."

"Outwardly or telepathically?"

Tanisha just shrugged. "Either."

Soon the bell rang and everyone headed to his or her 1st period class. Lyle sprinted upstairs to his class when he heard the same ringing inside of his head.

_**Heading up to class?**_

_**Yeah. I'm going to uh…Woodshop.**_

_**Liar. You're going to Home Ec. III.**_

Lyle rolled his eyes. _**Is there something I can help you with, Anne-Marie?**_

_**It's Anna-Maria and I want to talk to you during lunch.**_

_**Why would a head cheerleader like you talk to a loner like me?**_

_**We're more alike than you think.**_

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute<strong>

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful one-bedroom light purple room with roses décor. There were flowers that scented the whole room. Lilac has never seen anything like it. She turned to Scott Summers and Emma Frost.<p>

"Is this my room?" She asked.

"Yes it is, Lilac." Emma answered. "We make sure that the students feel comfortable here."

Lilac nodded but she portrayed a look of sadness. "What good can I bring to your team? My powers are…weak."

"No they're not," Scott said, coming over to her. "Healing may be all you can do but, trust me, it can be very helpful for your team on missions."

"Missions?"

"Of course, each member is important in their own way."

Emma was surprised when her boyfriend mentioned the notion of going on missions. The X-Men were, in all pretenses, disbanded. Was Scott thinking about reassembling them? Cyclops decided to let Seth continue Lilac's tour, sensing Emma's thoughts.

"Seth will show you around the rest of the Institute, Lilac." He told the girl. "Ms. Frost and I have some business to take care of."

Seth finally came in Lilac's room after Scott and Emma stepped out. He found Lilac sitting on the edge of her bed, crying softly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, coming over to her. "You don't like the room?"

"I like my room," Lilac said. "I like everything about this place. But I miss my family."

"I know you do. I was the same way when I first came here."

Lilac looked at Seth. "Where's your family?"

"In San Francisco. My grandfather was good friends with Professor Xavier and he sent me here when I developed my powers."

"Do your parents visit you often?"

Seth paused. "They're gone."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry." Lilac gasped. "I didn't know…"

"They're not dead," Seth corrected. "They're just…gone."

Lilac nodded, not going further on the subject. Instead, she eyed a wrapped yellow box next to Seth. "Is that box for me?"

Seth looked at the box. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot." He gave the box to Lilac who opened it. It was a dark purple spandex uniform with yellow padding on the arms, legs and the breast. The belt bore the "X-Men" insignia. Lilac's smile grew wide.

"Does this mean I'm an X-Man, now?"

"As long as you're here, Lilac," you'll always be an X-Man."

Lilac smiled. "Thanks, Seth. So where's your room?"

"Downstairs in the basement."

"Why are you in the basement?"

"I can be closer to my lab. Would you like to see?"  
>"Sure!"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>Emma didn't know weather to be shocked, excited or angry with Scott.<p>

"Emma, before you get upset with me…" Scott began.

"I'm not upset with you, Scott," Emma said. "I don't know how I feel at this moment. You said you were done with the X-Men."

"I know what I said. But these past five years have been getting tense and that incident at the football stadium…we can't afford to be so lazy."

"And we can't afford to bury anymore students either."

Scott sighed. "I know. But this time will be different."

Emma was about to say something when Cerebro radioed an alarm. Scott and Emma looked at each other, dismissing their conversation for later and headed to the Cerebro Room. Turning on the machine, Emma saw, through her mind, two mutants who were playing with their powers at the school. Two _very familiar mutants. _

"Scott, we have a problem," She said. "The Brotherhood Spawn are back: Luna Maximoff and Micah Alvers."

"Where are they?" Scott asked.

"At the school, out in the open."

"I thought they were in Genosha?"

"Apparently, not anymore." Emma turned to Scott. "This could mean trouble."

Scott nodded. "As soon as Laura and Bobby get back from the airport, we're having a major discussion about this."

"I think that's a good idea." Emma then heard Anna-Maria's excessive ringing in her head. "Ms. DeSoto is going to call you now." The _second _she said that, Scott's cell phone rang and it was Anna-Maria calling.

"Hey, Anna-Maria. What's up?" He greeted.

_You know that always freaks me out when you and Ms. Frost do that, Professor Summers. _Anna-Maria said over the phone.

"Sorry, Annie. How's your talk with Griffiths going?"

_Don't really know. He hasn't come to lunch yet. I'm starting to think that this was a bad idea._

"We have to reach out to every single superhuman we can find, Anna-Maria, that's our mission here," Scott reminded her. "Lyle may seem off-put now but there's more to him than meets the eye."

Anna-Maria sighed. _All right, I'll wait 2 more minutes for him._

"Good. And while you're at it, I want you to keep an eye out for Luna Maximoff and Micah Alvers."

_They're here? I thought they were in Genosha._

"Well, they're back and I don't know what's their agenda but it's not really good."

_I'll let Tanisha know. In the meantime, I'll try to recruit Mr. Griffiths to the ranks._

* * *

><p><strong>Bayville High School<strong>

* * *

><p>After ending her conversation with Cyclops, Anna-Maria checked the time on her cell phone. She decided to wait three more minutes for Lyle to show up before heading inside. Then a funny feeling in the pit of Annie's gut told her to go to the Quad. As she went to the back of the student lounge, she saw Lyle Griffiths bouncing a basketball in the gardens. Anna-Maria scoffed. He's been here this whole time!<p>

"I ain't no mind reader, lass," Lyle said. "But I can tell when someone's sneaking up behind me." Anna-Maria rolled her eyes as she came over to Lyle.

"Why you didn't tell me this is where you usually hang out?" She asked.

"You never asked me."

"Touché. So do we have time to talk?"

Lyle quit bouncing his basketball and sat down on a bench.

"This is me free period," He said. "I have all the time in the world. What do you have to talk to me about?"

"Well, first I want to thank you for saving my life." Anna-Maria began.

"You're welcome."

"Do your hands always emit fire shields?"

Lyle whistled. "Straight to the point. I like that in a lady. I can generate fire from my hands and make them into any sort of object I so desire." He proceeded to ignite his right hand into a hook made of fire. Anna-Maria awed at the sight before her.

"When did you find out that you were a mutant?"

That question nearly made Lyle cringe. "Around the same time my father died. I was thirteen then my I came here to live with me mum and my stepdad."

"How did your dad die?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. I've been keeping me powers under wraps until about two years ago. My hands sometimes burn for no reason at all."

"Maybe what you need is some help with controlling your powers."

"I suppose you know someone?"

"You ever heard of the Charles Xavier Institute for Higher Learning?" "Not really."

"I'll take you there afterschool if you're interested."

Lyle thought about it for a minute. He knew that there were more superhumans like him but he wasn't a trusting person, which is why he took so long to get some help with his powers. There was something about this girl…this cheerleader, that told Lyle different.

"I'm usually a very suspicious person, Anna-Maria," Lyle said. "But I'm intrigued by your offer. I'll come to your institute."

Anna-Maria smiled. "Awesome."

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>Micah Alvers was smoking a cigarette at the damaged football stadium when a whoosh of wind nearly startled him and knocked his cigarette right out of his mouth.<p>

"Dang it, Maximoff!" He whined. "That was my last cigarette."

Luna Maximoff stopped running and looked at Micah. "Those things are bad for you anyway."

"If I want to damage my lungs, so be it. Shouldn't you be in class?"

"It's only Trigonometry," Luna shrugged. "Everyone is sleeping in that class."

"Magneto said that we should keep a low profile."

_"Magneto _should mind his own business."

"Luna…"

The young speedster sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't have said that. After all, _my grandfather_ is in _Germany_."

Micah rolled his eyes. "You know what? Forget I even said anything."

Luna shook her head and smiled but her smile immediately faded when she saw who was approaching them. "Looks like we got some company."

Micah turned to see three of the X-Kids coming: Tanisha Jones, Dmitri Marx, and Tamarra Cabonarra.

"Well, well," He sneered. "If it ain't the X-Brats. Did you miss us?"

"Alvers, Maximoff. What are you doing here?" Tanisha asked.

"We decided we missed New York so we came back," Luna smiled.

"What about the Brotherhood?" Tamarra asked. "Are _they _back?"

"That depends," Micah replied.

"On what?" Dmitri said.

"On what Magneto's call is."

Tanisha shook her head in confusion. "Wait, I thought Mystique ran the Brotherhood?"

"She's in charge of the Brotherhood but Magneto calls the shots," Luna explained. "She gets her orders from him."

"What _are _your orders?"

Luna and Micah looked at each other, smiling, before getting their stuff to leave. Luna turned to Tanisha. "I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?" She said to her. "I'll tell your ex-girlfriend you said hi."

Tanisha said nothing but looked at the two Brotherhood members as they walked away.

"So what now?" Tamarra asked.

"Yeah, the Brotherhood just, like, threw the Gauntlet." Dmitri added.

"We don't do anything yet," Tanisha decided. "At least not until Cyclops says so or until they make the first move."

"I think they just did, Tanisha." Tamarra pointed out. "We just have to find out what it is."

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute<strong>

* * *

><p>Lyle couldn't say he wasn't nervous when he arrived at a Victorian-like gated mansion. There was a massive size basketball court to the right, a swimming pool to the left, and Lyle couldn't even fathom to what was behind this house or inside for that matter. Anna-Maria punched a code on the keypad and the gates screeched open.<p>

"Are you nervous?" She asked Lyle.

"No, of course not." Lyle lied. "I'm just in awe of this building."

"Yeah, hard to believe that people actually live here."

Lyle looked at Anna-Maria. "Do _you _live here?"

Anna-Maria simply smiled as she parked her car in the garage. Lara Worthington and Lena Parkridge greeted them as they got out of the car.

"Hey Annie," Lara greeted. "Where're the Tanisha and the others? I thought they were with you?"

"They had some business to take care of so they're taking the subway home."

"Aren't you Warren Worthington III's daughter?" Lyle asked.

Lara smiled. "Yep that's me. But you can call me Lara."

"Lyle this is Lara Worthington and Lena Parkridge," Anna-Maria introduced. "They go to Bayville High."

"Cheerio, lassies," Lyle greeted.

Lena rolled her eyes. "Dude, we can't afford another British guy."

"What ya got against the Brits?" Lyle asked.

"Nothing personal," Lena said. "I just spent too much time with a certain idiot from Kent, England."

"She's talking about another student that stays here." Anna-Maria explained.

_**I hate to disperse of the pleasantries, Anna-Maria, **_Emma Frost's voice rang clear in everyone's head causing Lyle to jump. _**But Professor Summers would like to see Mr. Griffiths in his office as soon as possible.**_

_** We'll be right there, Ms. Frost. **_Anna-Maria turned off her telepathic link with Emma and turned to Lyle, who's eyes were wide with shock.

"There's _another _mind reader?" He said.

"We're called telepaths." Anna-Maria corrected, "Now let's go see Professor Summers."

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME*UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>School went by quicker than Becca had thought. Nobody else from the Brotherhood heckled her about Tanisha or her loyalties. Becca knew what she was doing. When she made up her mind about something, there was no changing it back. Even if it means hurting the ones she loved in the process. Dismissing her thoughts, Becca paid her subway ticket and got on the train. She headed to the back to get away from the congested crowd. Ten minutes into the ride, while Becca was reading her favorite book, she felt a familiar presence sitting next to her on the train.<p>

The young Cajun girl smiled. "You're good, NeNe," She said. "But you ain't good enough. I knew you were followin' me from the time school let out."

"Then why you didn't say anything?" Tanisha asked.

"This book was gettin' interesting. What do ya want?"

Tanisha lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's the Brotherhood planning?"

"I don't know," Becca shrugged.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"Just that: I. don't. know. Contrary to popular belief, they don't much trust me with nothing."

"I wonder why."

"It ain't what ya think. Besides, ya'll playin' wit fire if ya gonna mess with the Brotherhood."

"We're not picking any fights," Tanisha explained. "We're stopping them from wreaking havoc. Now, I don't care if you want to protect the Brotherhood but think about your parents and your sister. If you know something, tell me."

Becca was silent for a moment. It seemed like her ex-girlfriend's words seem to sink in. "I honestly don't know what they're planning." She said. Seeing Tanisha's dejected look, Becca added this: "But if there's ever a time for the X-Men to show up, it's now."

Tanisha looked at Becca, "Come back to the Institute, come back to the X-Men. I'm sure everyone will forgive you. I can't say the same for Jason."

"Sorry, Sugah," Becca apologized. "There's somethin' I gotta do and I need to see to it."

"So you join the Brotherhood?"

"Trust me, Tanisha. It'll all make sense later." She kissed Tanisha on the forehead. "You be good, Chére." As the train came to a halt, Becca grabbed her things and proceeded to leave. She turned back to Tanisha. "You gonna be one heck of a leader."

After Becca left, Dmitri, Tamarra and JT immediately came over to Tanisha's side. They saw their friend sitting in silence and not saying anything.

"Are you okay?" Tamarra asked, compassionately.

"I will be," Tanisha replied. "Becca has no idea what the Brotherhood is planning. They don't fully trust her."

"That's not shocking," Dmitri said.

"But she told me now's the time to resurrect the X-Men."

Her friends paused, unable to say anything. "What did she mean by that?" JT asked.

"I don't know." Tanisha said.

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute<strong>

* * *

><p>Lyle opened the door to a rather spacious office. It had tall bookcases on each side of the room and pictures of different heroes. Lyle guessed it was superhumans that have been here before. Two particular pictures caught his attention. One picture was of a 15-year-old brunette teenager and the other a 16-year-old blue teenager that looked like an elf. Lyle recognized the people dead on.<p>

"No blimey way!" He breathed. "Shadowcat and Nightcrawler from Excalibur!"

"Two of my trusted colleagues and my closest friends."

Lyle turned around to see a tall, muscular man coming towards him. He had on a dark green muscle shirt with a green button down shirt coupled over it. The man also had on ruby red glasses. Lyle assumed it was part of his ability.

"I'm Professor Scott Summers, Headmaster of the Xavier Institute." He introduced. "It's nice to meet you, Lyle."

"It's great to meet you too," Lyle said, still awestruck. "How do you know Shadowcat and Nightcrawler?"

"Believe it or not, they were my classmates back in Bayville High," Scott explained. "They were also X-Men."

"I thought the X-Men split up years ago?"

"We took a hiatus after some things transpired. But now I'm thinking about bringing the X-Men back."

"With all due respect, Mr. Summers," Lyle said. "I've been propositioned by many people like you before. Some had their own agendas, others me parents hired. How're your different?"

"Charles Xavier built this school, not only as a safe haven for mutants and bang-babies, but to teach them how to use their powers safely and for the betterment of others," Scott explained. "These kids are not here against their will; they have special powers they needed help with."

"Have they controlled it?"

Scott laughed. "Some better than others. Would you like a tour?"

Lyle nodded, more intrigued than ever.

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>Lilac was reading a how-to gardening book in the study when two people came in the door. One looked like the female teenage version of Wolverine, except she was taller, tan skinned and her black hair was tied in a ponytail. The man next to her was athletically built with blond highlighted hair and icy blue eyes. Lilac vanished to a little corner in the study so as not to be seen.<p>

"I wonder where is everybody?" Bobby Drake asked.

Laura Kinney shrugged, "The kids should be home from school by now. They probably went to the mall or something."

"Well, I'm heading to the kitchen. All this jetlag made me hungry."

Laura laughed but suddenly stopped and started sniffing the air. Bobby looked at his friend, "What is it, Laura?"

Laura didn't say anything, instead she went into the study and walked near the corner where Lilac was.

"I know you're in here, sweetie." Laura called out. "No use hiding."

Lilac fearfully stepped out of her comfort spot and took a seat on the couch. She hid behind her book to avoid the faces.

"It's okay," Bobby said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Bobby and this is Laura." He extended his hand out to Lilac, which she eventually reciprocated.

"Lilac, where are you?" Seth's voice echoed. He raced to the study and found the timid girl with X-23 and Iceman. "There you are, where'd you go?"

"I got lost in the library," Lilac whispered. Bobby and Laura looked at Lilac in shock.

"She _can _talk." Bobby mused.

"Lilac's very soft-spoken," Seth explained. To Lilac, he asked: "Did you find something interesting?"

Lilac held out her book for Seth to see. "For my garden."

"You like to garden?" Laura asked. The girl nodded. "Good, we could use good landscape."

"It's nice to meet you, Lilac." Bobby said.

"You too," Lilac said.

"I told you I heard his voice, Alec!" Lena said as she rushed downstairs to the study.

She came over to Bobby and hugged him. Soon, Lara came downstairs followed by Anna-Maria, Alec Jameson and Jason Summers.

"Bobby!" Jason greeted his friend, "I missed you man!"

"I missed you too, Jason." Bobby said. "I missed all of you."

"You're gonna stay this time, right?" Anna-Maria said.

"Of course, I am." Bobby smiled.

"Good, because there's a lot we need to talk about."

Everyone turned around to see Scott standing in the doorway along with Lyle.

"It's good to have you back, Bobby, but I'm afraid we have a little situation in the War Room, if you and Laura would join me." To Anna-Maria, Scott said: "Annie, make Lyle more comfortable."

"Sure, no problem." Anna-Maria smiled.

Once the adults left, the feisty Brazilian telepath skipped over to Lyle.

"So…how did it go?" She asked.

"Honestly, it was rather swell," Lyle replied. "But don't expect me to join the Boy Scouts just yet."

"Uh…there're _girls _here too, you know." Lara pointed out.

Lyle laughed. "I'm sorry."

"You already met Lara and Lena," Anna-Maria introduced. "This is Alec Jameson, Jason Summers, Seth Dass, and Lilac Silas."

"Lovely to meet all of ya." Lyle greeted.

"What part of England are ya from, mate?" Alec asked.

"I'm from East Birmingham. What about you?"

"Kent, England. It's nice to have a proper Englishman around here."

"Alec, Lyle never said he was going to stay here yet," Anna-Maria said.

"And you're _nowhere _near proper." Lena added.

Alec smiled. "Oh, be still me heart." He teased.

Lilac whispered something in Seth's ear. "Hey, Lyle. Lilac wants to know if you can stay for dinner." Seth translated.

Lyle looked at Anna-Maria. "Lilac is very soft-spoken," She explained. "She literally whispers."

"Oh, I suppose I could crash here a while." Lyle said.

"You're mom won't mind?"

"I'm emancipated."

"What does that mean?" Lilac asked.

"It means I live by myself, lassie."

Anna-Maria nodded. "Well, Mr. Griffiths, let's see how really good your cooking skills are."

"You can cook?!" Jason exclaimed.

"I've been working on it." Lyle blushed.

* * *

><p><strong>The Brotherhood Boarding House<strong>

* * *

><p>"When did they get back from Genosha?" Becca asked her friend, Antonio "Tony" Santos. She was referring to the return of Micah Alvers and Luna Maximoff. They "left" the Brotherhood three years ago to become Magneto's Acolytes. Why they returned after so long, no one knows.<p>

"Who knows?" Tony shrugged. "Maybe they got tired of Genosha."

"I highly doubt it," Becca said, looking at the two new teammates.

Jeanette Sanders and Naya Rivera looked at Micah and Luna as if they had a hidden agenda.

"Why are you back?" Jeanette asked.

"We already told you, Jeanette," Luna replied. "We're here to help the Brotherhood. Magneto needs you."

"For what?"

"His big plan for superhuman domination is underway and he doesn't want anyone to stand in his way."

"That includes the X-Men." Micah added.

Becca, who was silent throughout all this, decided to speak. "The X-Men hasn't fought or shown themselves in five years," She said. "Why attack them now?"

"They're still a threat to our plan," Luna replied. She walked up to Becca. "You're not defending them, are you LeBeau?"

"I ain't with the X-Men no more," Becca glared. "But I've been with them long enough to know that they're always 3 steps ahead of their enemy."

"That's a good assessment. You just might come in handy after all."

Naya looked shocked. "You can't be serious."

"An Ex-X-Man makes a more deadlier enemy to an X-Man." Micah explained. "It helps shifts the loyalties." He smirked at Becca who smirked back.

"So, what do you want _us_ to do?" Jeanette asked.

"Senator Kelly is giving a speech in Washington D.C. about Superhuman Registration," Luna explained. "Care for a little protest?"

* * *

><p><strong>Xavier Institute<strong>

* * *

><p>JT Wagner, Tamarra Cabonarra and Dmitri Marx arrived at the Institute just in time to see one of their classmates making dinner. For Dmitri, it was rather disturbing.<p>

"Annie, why is Lyle Griffiths making our dinner?" He asked Anna-Maria.

"Relax, Dmitri," Anna-Maria assured. "It's just Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo on Garlic Rye Bread."

"That sounds so good," Tamarra said, coming to the kitchen.

"I having some of that," JT said. "I gotta get comfortable."

JT pressed a button on his watch and his light Caramel skin, grey eyes and brown hair with blonde highlights were transformed into turquoise fur-like skin, green glowing eyes and indigo hair with silver highlights. Lyle looked at JT in shock. Lilac let out a yelp and hid behind Seth when she saw JT's true form.

"Dear God, you look just like Nightcrawler." Lyle breathed.

"Yeah, I'm his son." JT mentioned.

"Surprised that two of Bayville's star football players are mutants?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, very surprised. You want some Gumbo?"

"Sure, I'm starving." JT said, coming in the kitchen.

Tamarra saw that Lilac was still hiding behind Seth.

"You don't have to be afraid of JT, Lilac." She told the girl. "This is how JT always looks but he's a sweet guy."

Lilac looked at Seth who nodded. She came up from behind Seth and sat down.

"Well, that was quick." Alec quipped.

"She's getting used to us," Seth said. "Where's Tanisha?"

"She's in the living room, watching TV." Tamarra replied. To Jason, she whispered: "Ran into Becca."

Sighing, Jason went into the living room to where Tanisha was. He caught the dark-skinned girl lying on the sofa, watching the news.

"Hey, there's Shrimp Gumbo in the kitchen if you want some," He offered.

Tanisha shook her head. "I'm not really hungry."

Jason sat down in one of the loveseats next to Tanisha. "What did Becca say to you?"

"Nothing hurtful," Tanisha replied. "I just asked her what the Brotherhood was planning and she said she didn't know. She also told me that she has something she has to see through."

"That's why she joined the Brotherhood?"

"She said it'll make sense later."

Jason laughed humorlessly. "All Becca's doing is running away from her problems. The Brotherhood hasn't made a move in three years. What's gonna happen that will cause them to make one now?"

Tanisha was about to respond when a certain news report caught her attention.

_**"**__Senator Robert Kelly is scheduled to make his appearance before Congress about the Superhuman Registration Act, tonight, where he will speak for this bill to be passed. Millions of protestors, human and superhuman alike, are in front of Capitol Hill; this bill has certainly brought some controversy in these past five years."_

Tanisha's eyes lit up. "That's it."

"What's it?" Jason asked, confused.

Tanisha said nothing but she ran to the kitchen where the other kids were eating their gumbo.

"They're crashing Congress!" She announced.

Everyone looked at Tanisha like she lost it.

"Who's crashing congress?" Tamarra asked.

"The Brotherhood," Tanisha explained. "Luna said that Magneto gave them orders. Senator Kelly is speaking at Congress tonight at 8:00 P.M. I think Magneto gave the Brotherhood orders to invade Congress during that time."

Everyone gasped and looked at each other in worry.

"This is a huge assumption, Tanisha." Jason said.

"I'm sure about this, Jason."

"Well, we should tell Professor Summers." Jason proceeded to head to the War Room when Alec and Lena stopped him.

"Don't call Cyclops!" Alec exclaimed. "He's not going to do anything."

"He'll know what to do, Alec." Jason argued.

"He's gonna tell us to stay here so he and the rest of the teachers would go after them." Lena said.

"Isn't that what they do?" Lyle asked.

"Yes, Lyle." Jason replied.

"It shouldn't be," Tanisha argued. "We've been staying here for five years, it's time to do something."

"It's not your call."

"Am I the leader here?"

Jason sighed. "Tanisha, I'm not going to let you go out there alone and get killed."

"She's not going to be alone."

Everyone turned to Lara's direction. The young heiress stood up from her position and walked over to Tanisha.

"I'm going with her," She said. "The Brotherhood is planning something and we need to stop it."

Tanisha smiled. "Thanks, Lara." She turned to the crowd. "Anyone else?"

At first no one would go with Tanisha and Lara. The kids were a little hesitant at the magnitude of this mission. Just as when Tanisha was starting to give up hope, Lyle walked over and stood by the girls' side.

"I suppose I'll join this little picnic." He said humorously.

"You're going with them, Lyle?" Anna-Maria said.

"Well, here's how I see it," Lyle explained. "Senator Kelly don't like us but we're saving his life from a bunch of wankers. That's pretty much self-explanatory."

Lyle's comment seemed to be pretty convincing because soon Anna-Maria, Alec, Lena, JT and Tamarra came over and stood beside Tanisha. Jason tried once again to convince the kids not to go.

"Tanisha, think about what happened five years ago," He implored. "Why Scott disbanded the X-Men."

"I know Jason," Tanisha said. "But I'm not spending the rest of my life in fear. Professor X told us to use our powers for good and that's what we're doing."

"I want to use my powers for good." Lilac squeaked.

She walked over to Tanisha and whispered in her ear. Tanisha laughed slightly.

"Seth, are you coming?" She asked. Seth looked at Tanisha, confused. "Lilac's words, not mine."

Seth smiled, "I may as well. Everyone else is."

"Dmitri?" Lara coaxed.

"I don't know, guys." Dmitri said. "It's almost suicide."

"No, _it is suicide!" _Jason exclaimed. "Think about what you're doing."

"We are." Tanisha said. "You can come with us to make sure we're safe."

"Yeah, Jace. I'll go with them if you come with us." Dmitri agreed.

Jason didn't know what to do. He didn't want his friends to be in danger but at the same time Tanisha had a point. The X-Men were assembled to protect superhumans and humans. Five years is indeed too long of a time for the X-Men to be gone.

"Alright, I'll go with you but please don't try anything stupid." He said.

"Yeah!" The kids cheered.

"Get your uniforms and meet me at the jet."

"Uh, I don't have a uniform." Lyle imputed.

"Don't worry, Lyle," Jason assured. "I got an extra one you can use."

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p>An hour or so later, Lyle and Jason were waiting for the others at the hangar. Lyle had on a black uniform with a red "X" stretched out in the middle. Jason's uniform was green with artic white body armor. He had on a white headband with the "X" symbol on it.<p>

"So, where'd you get this uniform?" Lyle asked.

"It's one of Professor Summers' older uniforms," Jason said. "He had a rebel streak."

"So, do you people have aliases or do you use your real names?"

Jason looked at Lyle. "Of course we go by aliases. Do you expect us to risk our identity going out there?"

"No, I suppose not. What's your alias then?"

"Emerald. My power is solar magnetism."

Lyle nodded as he caught sight of the girls, Anna-Maria, Lara, Tamarra and Tanisha coming toward them. Anna-Maria's uniform was an amethyst body suit with forest green gloves, boots and sash tied to the side. She also had the "X" symbol stretched across her chest. Lara's uniform was all white: halter top, pants, mini skirt, boots and gloves. Tamarra's uniform was a silver spandex body suit with light blue armor plates on her arms and her legs. She carried a sword with her as well. Tanisha's uniform bore the red, white and blue. Dark Blue Pants, Blue and White tube top, Red Jacket and Red and White armor plates. Lyle looked at these young women, intrigued.

"Well, look at you lovely ladies." He whistled. "And what do I call ya."

"Plasma." Tamarra said.

"Celestial." Lara said.

"Independence." Tanisha said.

"Sparkle." Anna-Maria said.

Lyle smiled. "Nice. Where're the blokes?"

Soon, JT and Dmitri arrived. JT had on his father's old uniform, but his was a dark blue and white body suit and black leggings. Dmitri's uniform was a sleeveless silver and black body suit.

"Great, all we gotta do is wait for the little squirts." Dmitri said.

"They're coming, Dmitri." Jason assured.

"Do you also go by 'Nightcrawler,' JT?" Lyle asked.

"No, I go by Nightshadow." JT replied.

"And I'm Steel." Dmitri gloated. Anna-Maria rolled her eyes.

Finally, Alec, Lena, Seth and Lilac came to the hangar. Lilac was wearing her purple, lightly padded uniform. Seth's uniform consisted of yellow/black spandex pants, long-sleeved black shirt with the yellow "X" and a backpack consisting of his tech gear. Seth also had a head communicator. Lena's uniform was a turquoise mini-dress with green leggings and a black trench coat. Alec's uniform was a full black body armor suit with maroon stripes down the sides. He also had a black helmet with a dark red visor.

"What took you so long?" Jason asked.

"I couldn't find my helmet," Alec said.

Jason rolled his eyes as he told Lyle the younger kids' aliases: "Alec's name is Hyrise, Lena's name is Scrabble, Seth's name is Network and Lilac's name is…what _did _you come up with?"

Lilac shrugged. "I can't really think of one."

"Maybe you don't need one." Seth said. "Your name is alias enough."

"Jean Grey went by her name too," Jason pointed out.

Lilac smiled. "Okay, I'll go by my name then."

Jason turned to Lyle. "And what's your alias, mate?"

After thinking for a moment, Lyle said: "Torch."

"Suits you." Anna-Maria smiled.

"Guys, it's almost 6:00 p.m.," Tanisha said. "We need to get to D.C. before the Brotherhood does."

"Tanisha's right," Jason said. "We need to get moving."

* * *

><p><strong>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The War Room<strong>

* * *

><p>"You're bringing back the X-Men?" Rogue asked.<p>

"After what _happened?" _Bobby Drake added.

Scott put his head in his hands. "I said I was _thinking about it." _

Logan Howlett lit up a cigar, not saying anything as the rest of his teammates were debating on weather or not the X-Men should come back from their "retirement."

"What's there to think about?" Rogue said. "The Sentinel Ambush nearly obliterated us. Half of our students were killed and you want to throw the rest we got back in the crossfire?"

"It's been five years, Rogue." Laura Kinney pointed out.

"What if five years isn't long enough for the students?" Emma Frost asked.

"Well, we'll just have to ask the students, won't we?" Scott said.

Logan sniffed the air and smirked. "No need," He said. "They're gone."

"Gone?" Rogue and Bobby exclaimed.

"What do you mean they're gone, Logan?" Scott asked.

"They took the Blackbird and left. I don't know where."

Emma quickly headed to Cerebro while the rest of the teachers raced straight to the hangar. Sure enough, one of the Blackbirds and all the uniforms were missing.

"They're gone." Laura said.

"To where?" Rogue asked.

"To Washington D.C.," Emma informed. "My best guess is: to Senator Kelly's hearing."

Everyone was at a lost for words; nobody didn't know what to say.

"Why would they do something like that?" Scott asked, angrily.

"The answer's clear, Summers." Logan explained. "They're saving the world. The decision's been made for us: Those kids are X-Men. Always have, always will be."

* * *

><p><strong>NEXT CHAPTER: <strong>_** THE X-MEN TAKE ON THE BROTHERHOOD IN WASHINGTON D.C. WHO WILL WIN? WHO WILL BE DEFEATED? THIS SHOWDOWN WILL START THE WAR!**_


	4. (Washington) DC Brawl

**Chapter 4: The (Washington) D.C. Brawl**

**The Blackbird**

Jason Gabriel Summers (Emerald) was pacing back and forth around the Blackbird. He was having second thoughts about going to Washington D.C. He didn't want to be responsible for whatever happened to his younger friends. Tanisha Harriet Jones (Independence) came over to Jason's side, noticing his discomfort.

"Will you just relax?" She told him.

"How can I relax when we're about to commit suicide?"

"You worry too much. Think of it as one of our training sessions in the Danger Room."

"This is _nothing _like the Danger Room."

Lara Nairobi Worthington (Celestial) couldn't help but overhear the conversation.

"Weren't our parents fighting these types of battles at our age?" She asked.

"That was different," Emerald said.

"How is that any different?"

When Emerald couldn't come up with a straight answer, Independence walked up to the pilot seat where Seth Rajiv Dass (Network) and Alec Theodore Jameson (Hyrise) were piloting the ship. Very proficiently too.

"Network, what's our ETA to D.C.?" Independence asked.

"Approximately 15 minutes," Network replied.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Hyrise asked.

"We're going to the hearing and look out for the Brotherhood," Independence replied.

"In our uniforms?" Lilac asked.

"No, We'll be stealth about it."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Capitol Hill-Washington D.C.<span>**

"Senator Kelly?"

The graying man looked up from his speech to see his trusted aid, Henry Gyrich standing at the edge of the doorway.

"Congress is almost ready for you," He told him.

"Is it a packed house?"

Henry nodded. "Filled with protestors, supporters and reporters."

Senator Robert Kelly gathered his notes and proceeded make his way to the Capitol Hill. "It's high time that we show the world how dangerous superhumans can be," He said. "We've been living in chaos for far too long."

The two men exited their house. What they didn't know was that Luna Maximoff was spying on them. The young speedster raced her way back to her friends on the other side.

"They're on their way to Capitol Hill," She informed. "The hearing is about to begin."

"So we're just going to just storm the Senate?" Becca asked.

"Of course not," Luna smiled. "We're going to knock first. Courtesy of Whirlwind."

Micah Alvers (Whirlwind) was grinning ear to ear.

**XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU**

Capitol Hill was swarmed with protesters and supporters of the Superhuman Registration Act. The Senate wasn't all that calm either. Becca LeBeau (Ace) was standing in the middle of the protestors waiting for her signal. She hoped, if Tanisha was smart, that she would recognize _her_ signal back at the subway.

"You're not backing down on this, are you LeBeau?" Luna asked, suddenly behind her.

Becca smirked. "Not a chance. I've been waiting a long time for this."

"Good, we need our Ace in the hole.

* * *

><p><strong><span>XME:UAU*XME:UAU*XME:UAU<span>**

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the other side of the protest, Independence and Emerald were scoping the scene in search for any Brotherhood. Independence had an idea that they would attack from behind.<p>

"I have a feeling that the Brotherhood is going to perform a sneak attack," she told Emerald.

"Are you sure about that?" Emerald asked. "They aren't that smart to pull a move like that."

"But with Luna and Micah running the show, anything is possible." Independence took out her communicator. "Nightshadow, you and your team go incognito in Capitol Hill. The Brotherhood may be attacking from within."

_What about from outside?_

"We got outside covered."

Independence and Emerald's team consisted of Celestial, Torch, Sparkle and Steel who're outside. Nightshadow and Plasma's team had Hyrise, Scrabble, Network and Lilac and they were incognito on the inside.

* * *

><p>The Senate hearing was about to begin and everyone took their seats. Nightshadow and Plasma stayed in the back as not to be seen. They saw Scrabble and Hyrise sitting down in the audience, Network and Lilac two rows behind them.<p>

"Do you see any of them?" Plasma whispered.

Nightshadow scanned the room. "I see Vera, Primal and Twitch," he replied. "The rest must be outside."

The Speaker of the House began to speak. "Welcome everyone, to the Senate Hearing," he announced. "First, I would like to inform everybody that this is a _civil hearing _despite the commotion that's going on outside. We're here to discuss the Superhuman Registration Act, weather or not it should be law. We'll be hearing from Senator Robert Kelly first."

Robert Kelly confidently walked up to the podium. "My fellow Americans, we are faced with national and global crisis," he began. "These superhumans, mutants and bang-babies, are a menace to society. Yet they live among us. We must find a way to put them on a tight leash. The Superhuman Registration Act will keep track of all superhumans."

There was an applause and cries of protests echoing at the same time. Outside Capitol Hill, Luna gave Whirlwind a short nod. Whirlwind raised his hands up and all of a sudden, the earth began to move. Thousands of people began to tremble with fear and confusion. Independence and Emerald looked at each other. The gauntlet was thrown.

Inside the Senate, everybody looked around in terror when the earthquake occurred. Senator Kelly looked frazzled but he eventually found his words again.

"People, calm down. It's just a minor tremor. It's nothing to be afraid of."

"YOU _SHOULD _BE AFRAID, SENATOR!"

Everyone turned around at Vera Chantelle's voice. She was smiling sinisterly as Twitch was holding a proximity bomb.

"Because we're not going anywhere!" Twitch added.

Nightshadow could sense the bomb coming toward the Senator using his Spectrum power.

"Hyrise! Knock it away from Senator Kelly!" he commanded.

Hyrise got up from his seat and used his gravitokinesis to throw the bomb out of Capitol Hill and into the sky. Primal looked at Hyrise in a feral way and she raised her hands. As she did, tall stalks of plants sprouted out from the ground. Soon more feral plant stalks were sprouting out from the ground. Everyone was running away with terror. Senator Kelly held his ground despite the fact that Secret Service was trying to usher him off. From outside, Emerald, Independence, Torch, Sparkle, Steel and Celestial saw monster plants sprouting from Capitol Hill.

"What the bloody hell is that?!" Torch exclaimed.

"Primal," Sparkle exclaimed. "She has a way of manipulating the Earth."

"Just like me." Whirlwind snickered.

The X-Men turned around to see Whirlwind along with Luna Maximoff and Ace. Independence studied her tactical moves. It was five against three but she had to consider crowd control. Plus Nightshadow had two defensive players on his team. Steel, Celestial, Torch were good for crowd control and defense.

"Steel, Celestial, Torch, get on crowd control," Independence commanded. "I want the civilians out of here."

Celestial took to the skies while Steel and Torch held to the ground. The civilians didn't care that their rescuers were superhumans. They just wanted to get out of there.

"Oh, how sweet," Luna cooed. "Miss Tanisha is becoming a leader."

"You're not about to hurt Senator Kelly, Maximoff." Independence said. "Not while we're here."

"Well, hurting you will just have to suffice."

Luna emitted cosmic energy at Independence, who absorbed it. She, in turn, emitted red, white and blue electricity at Luna. Whirlwind created another earthquake to shake Sparkle but she used her telekinesis to move the earthquake to Whirlwind. Ace and Emerald had a standoff of their own.

"It's not too late for you to surrender, Becky." Emerald challenged.

Ace smirked. "Not on your life, Jason."

Emerald's eyes narrowed as he lunged toward Ace. Ace took out two marbles and threw them at Emerald. When they exploded, it sent Emerald flying into the air and he landed on the ground, unconscious. Torch saw the whole thing and started to come at Ace with a fire sword and shield.

"Well, well, well," Ace whistled. "Ain't we got a fine Green Lantern here."

Ace threw ten marbles at Torch, who blocked them with his fire shield. Torch then emitted fire daggers at Ace and sent her running. Back in Capitol Hill, Senator Kelly watched as six superhumans were battling each other.

"This is exactly what I was afraid of, Henry." He told Gyrich. "It's turning to an all out war."

The politicians were startled by a puff of turquoise smoke.

"Senator Kelly, we have to get you out of here." Nightshadow commanded.

"I'm not going anywhere with you freaks!" Senator Kelly spat.

"Sorry, not an option."

Nightshadow teleported the Senator and his aid out of harm's way and put them where the civilians were. The people were startled to see Nightshadow but the blue mutant just smiled, waved and teleported back to the fight.

Primal was busy fighting Hyrise and Scrabble while Vera Chantelle took on Plasma. Network and Lilac were busy getting the civilians out of the way when they were blocked by Twitch. Rather, Twitch's car. He sped the vehicle to run over Lilac when Network got in front of her and hit the car with his left arm. The car smashed in a million pieces. Lilac looked at Network in shock.

"That was my favorite car!" Twitch growled.

"Oh boo-freaking-hoo!" Network sneered.

Then Twitch snapped his fingers and everything exploded around him. He then manipulated his explosions to aim at Network and Lilac. Network, for his part shielded them from the blasts by using a Nano-shield. He used his sonar-gun to send Twitch flying. Primal was hurling more plant stalks at Hyrise and he was busy trying to fight them off with his gravity powers. He was soon caught off-guard by Vera Chantelle.

"Quicksand!" Vera chanted.

Soon, the ground around Hyrise started to sink. He felt his legs going down the sinkhole that was made by Vera.

"Scrabble!" He called out. "Scrabble, help me!"

Scrabble saw Hyrise sinking and decided to end her fight with Primal by absorbing her powers. Crippled and weakened, Primal slumped to the ground unconscious. Using Primal's powers over nature, Scrabble lowered the tree stalks back to the ground. She grabbed one of the remaining stalks on the ground and lowered it to Hyrise, who was sinking rapidly. He was waist deep in the quicksand.

"Alec, grab on the stalk!" Scrabble barked.

Hyrise grabbed on the stalk and Lena tried to pull with all of her might.

_Vera, grab Twitch and Primal. _Luna Maximoff communicated telepathically. _We're getting out of here._

Vera nodded and she picked up Primal off of the ground. "Disappear!" she chanted.

Before the X-Men knew it, she, Twitch and Primal were gone. Outside of Capitol Hill, Ace, Whirlwind and Luna Maximoff were also gone.

Scrabble was still trying to get Hyrise out of the quicksand but this time she had help from Network and Nightshadow. After a few tugs and pulls, they finally got Hyrise out of the quicksand. As soon as they did that, the quicksand immediately turned into solid ground.

"Wow," Lilac awed.

"Yep. That's Vera Chantelle for you," Network remarked.

Nightshadow, Plasma, Hyrise, Lilac, Network and Scrabble finally went outside to meet Independence, Torch, Sparkle, Emerald, Celestial, and Steel. Torch and Steel had Emerald hoisted up their shoulders.

"They disappeared," Celestial informed.

Independence nodded. "Curtsey of Vera Chantelle."

"You Freaks! You ruined everything!" Senator Kelly shouted.

"Ruined everything? We saved your life!" Independence argued.

"You're abominations, you deserved to be arrested and thrown in jail. And I will make sure…"

Senator Kelly never finished his thought because he found himself staring at a kinetically charged playing card. Ace of Spades to be specific.

"I would rethink the next words that comes out yo' mouth, món amí," Remy LeBeau warned.

"Gambit!" Scott Summers aka Cyclops called out. "Let him go!"

Gambit turned around and saw Cyclops coming toward him and the kids, along with Rogue, X-23, Emma Frost, Iceman and Wolverine.

"Remy," Rogue pleaded. "Do as he says, Sugah."

Gambit thought about for a brief second before discharging his bomb and letting the frightened senator go. Stumbling, Senator Kelly got his bearings and he and Gyrich ran for their limo.

"This isn't over, X-Men!" He threatened. "Not by a long shot."

Cyclops watched as the rest of the civilians were murmuring, pointing fingers and taking pictures. This was the exact thing he was afraid of.

"Scott, I can explain…" Independence began.

Cyclops held a hand up for her to stop talking. "Get in the Blackbird. We'll talk about this when we get home."

* * *

><p><strong><span>The Brotherhood Boarding House<span>**

"I don't see what we accomplished," Becca argued. "The X-Men won."

"But they're on Senator Kelly's bad side," Luna smiled. "Soon the whole world will be against them."

"I don't see how that's likely," Naya said, placing an icepack on her head. "The people seemed to be on their side."

"Well, we just have to make sure that they won't be," Luna decided. "And we'll have to recruit some new blood along the way."

* * *

><p><strong><span>Xavier Institute<span>**

Scott Summers paced back and forth in the living room, the adults were on one end, kids on the other. No one dared said a word about what happened. There was so much tension in the air; you can cut it with a knife. Dmitri Marx was the first to break the deadly silence.

"Well, that was one hell of a night," he remarked. "Who's up for some pizza?"

"Marx, shut up." Laura admonished. Dmitri sat down and said nothing else.

"What. Were. You. Thinking?!" Scott began. "Have you learned _nothing _from five years ago? Don't you see the gravesites out there?"

"We do, we're well aware of what went on five years ago." Tanisha said.

"Uh, some of us aren't." Lyle imputed.

Scott was about to explain when Remy cut him off.

"Whatever the case, Scottie, them kids did a just deed, no?" He said. "They averted a catastrophe and saved the Senator."

"Who still hates us, if I may add." Emma pointed out.

"Scott, we don't want to sit on the sidelines anymore," Jason said. "We want to be X-Men. Give us that chance."

"Yeah, we're well aware of the risks." Tanisha agreed.

The rest of the kids nodded in agreement.

Scott looked at Lyle. "What do you think, Lyle?"

"I think I want to beat the Brotherhood's arses again," Lyle smiled.

Logan snickered. "I like that attitude."

"Lilac, what about you dear?" Emma asked.

Lilac was silent for a moment. Then she whispered something in Seth's ear. Seth chuckled before relaying the message.

"She asked when do we start training?"

The kids laughed and nodded in agreement. Scott contemplated his situation. He wanted so much to protect his kids. But, then again, they weren't kids anymore. If they wanted to be X-Men, who's he to stop him?

"All right," he decided. "You want to be X-Men, you're X-Men."

"Yeah! All right!" The kids cheered.

_"Starting next week. _This week, you're all grounded. No after school activities or anything, go straight here and do homework and chores. That includes you, Lyle and Lilac. Welcome to the family."

The kids groaned their protest as they trudged to their rooms. Scott shook his head and looked at his colleagues.

"Well, it could've been worse." Logan said.

"Yeah, they would've become Acolytes or something." Laura agreed.

"Speaking of which, when did you come back Remy?" Bobby asked

"Oh, just now." Remy replied. "I was riding through Maryland when I heard about this Washington D.C. brawl on the news. Made a detour."

"Well, we miss you Remy." Anna said.

"Speak for yourself," Logan muttered.

"Good thing you're here, Remy," Scott said. "Now that the kids want to be X-Men, we need all the help we can get."


End file.
